To Have Loved and Lost
by DreamChaos
Summary: The twins have begun a game called The Hunt, during which they get points for attacking the Slytherin Prefects and Head Boy. It's fun and games for Fred until he attacks Pansy - something that makes him realize how miserable she truly is. (Currently on hiatus - being rewritten)
1. Chapter 1

**I realize I have 20 million other fics I'm working on right now, but this is sort of a side project. I help run a chat-based Harry Potter role-play and Fransy just sort of happened out of the blue a few months ago, so I decided to write a fic for it. As an update, I have my next Scabior chapter typed (for those of you that read it) but I've yet to type it out. Also, I'm working on TSATF update, but it might be awhile longer. ALSO - if anyone is interested in joining our role-play, send me a message and I'll direct you to our site. We have tons of fun! We started as a Harry Gen RP only and expanded to include a separate Marauder and a separate New/Next Generation RP. Just let me know if you think it might be something you'd like to check out!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.**

_To Have Loved and Lost: Chapter One_

Pansy met the boy's eyes for a fraction of a second, quickly finding relief from the intensity by looking back down to the floor.

_"Well?" _he asked, his voice dipping slightly into a commanding tone.

She looked across the table to the giggling girls who quickly averted their eyes. There was a familiar tugging in her stomach - one of jealousy that she so often pushed aside. Pansy's eyes looked up to meet his once again, his eyebrow arched in irritation.

"Sure," she said softly, once again letting her eyes find the floor, "I'll cover for you tonight."

Draco grinned and bent toward her, landing a small kiss on her lips before turning away. The girls had quieted at the kiss, but visibly brightened upon him turning back to face them.

Pansy stood quickly - no longer able to handle the thick atmosphere - and made her way from the Great Hall without so much as a single look back. She did let her eyes slide over long enough to see Blaise give her a sympathetic look, but she instantly looked away. That look only confirmed things she didn't want confirmed which, in turn, created an uncomfortable burning behind her eyes. Her steps quickened, ready to be rid of any company, and she was more than relieved that her hand was already on the door when she heard the outburst of giggles from behind her.

Pansy hated Prefect duty when she was alone. She covered for Draco nearly three times a week while he did…things she would rather not think about. The worst part was that Pansy knew that Draco knew that _she _knew what he was up to. She thought this was the worst of all - he knew he was hurting her, yet he continued to do so.

She let a small sigh catch in her throat as she made her way to the dungeons, wanting nothing more than to finish her rounds and call it an early night. It was somewhat late - nearing lights out - so she instantly stiffened when she heard the shuffling and stifled laughter behind her. Pansy swallowed thickly and continued down the corridor with a hastened step. There was a…_game _that had been started that year - if it could even be called a game, really. This year, the Head Boy was Graham Montague - a Slytherin. Apparently the game had begun when the Weasley twins felt that this didn't quite fit their seventh year plans - thought it would put a damper on things to have a Slytherin with such power. Thus, the game had begun. Those _horrid _Gryffindors had decided it would be hilarious to start a point-based game with the Slytherin prefects, which just happened to be Pansy and Draco, and the Head Boy as targets. They'd been subject to every jinx in the book and it wasn't even December yet. Nearly all the boys in Gryffindor participated and, aside from magic, she'd been tripped, bruised, shoved, cut - it was just like being a first year again! Pansy heard the laughter again and quickly ducked into a side corridor, her fear getting the best of her.

_'Nothing but bullies, the lot of them,' _she thought bitterly. She always dreaded Draco asking her to cover for him because she was always afraid to get caught out alone during "the hunt" - as they called it, anyway. It could get ugly fast, but she wasn't nearly afraid when Draco actually took time from his _busy schedule _to go on patrol with her. She pushed the thoughts from her mind, finding temporary safety in a small alcove behind a statue that took up most of the space. Pansy took a seat on the floor, curling her thin legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees. She'd just have to wait it out until they passed. She waited for the shuffling steps to pass, hearing the familiar voices of those complete _animals _Fred and George. Actually, who was she kidding? The entire Gryffindor house was full of animals - Fred and George were the ring leaders.

She waited a few more moments until the snorting laughter died down and then stood, only making it one small step before freezing again. Her breath stuck in her throat, but for an entirely different reason. She heard the giggles first, shortly followed by Draco's voice lowly murmuring something before another explosion of giggles. Pansy didn't want to witness this - it caused her blood to run cold. She was stuck, one foot in the air, as her mind furiously debated on whether to stay or risk running for it. Unfortunately, as usually happens when people find themselves in this situation, she waited too long and the decision was made for her - after just a short moment, Draco passed the alcove, his arm lazily draped over the girl's shoulders. The girl quietly whispered, "Aren't you worried Pansy will find out?"

Pansy felt that burning behind her eyes again, her bottom lip letting out one small quiver. It only became worse when Draco laughed, telling the girl the exact truth in reply.

"What does it matter?" he began, "It's not like she'd actually say anything if she does."

Pansy felt her shoulders sag considerably as they walked by, keeping still until they rounded the corner. As soon as they did, her breath hitched loudly into something that resembled a a hiccup that passed through her lips roughly, causing her hand to fly up to her mouth. Within seconds, she ripped herself from the alcove and took off toward the Slytherin commons, forgetting completely about her patrol. Her feet pounded into the floor as she ran, the fat, hot tears rolling down her face as she made her way down the dark corridor. She felt as if the corridor kept growing longer and longer, fearing she'd never get there. He was right - she wouldn't say anything. She was mouthy and bossy to most people, but when it came to him she couldn't help but be compliant. It was as if she suddenly lost her voice when it came to things like this. It was one thing to suspect (more like know, but won't admit) that your boyfriend wasn't exactly faithful, but it was a completely different story to see it happen with your own eyes - to have him confirm from his own mouth.

Another quick sob left her chest, but was interrupted halfway through when she felt her foot catch on something that felt like a string tightly stretched across the corridor at ankle's height. She was suspended in air for a moment, almost in slow motion, as she tumbled down, the rough stone floor cutting into her palms and her knees through her tights. She didn't have time to let the small cry out which was crawling through her throat before she felt something warm and thick pour all over her from above. She looked down to her hands, a full sob finally able to voice itself, and could tell only that it was something darkly colored in the dim light. Fed up with everything entirely, she felt another hiccup-like sob pass through her as cruel laughter filled the halls.

"Ten points for me," the voice said triumphantly. Pansy looked up with her tear-stained face to see one of those twins grinning down on her like mad. The grin faltered a bit, however, upon seeing her face, but it remained intact. Not being able to face whichever one it was, she looked back down to her bleeding hands, her face screwing up as she began to openly cry, trying to stand up and get her footing back, but she was tangled in the now broken string.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts of Draco and trying to get unraveled from that bloody string that she couldn't even function enough to quit her crying and shoot him back a decent insult.

"Oi! Freddie boy! Look at who I found sneaking about with a girl who is _definitely _not Parkinson!" yelled a voice from behind her. She could hear Draco's loud protests, his voice echoing through the corridor.

Pansy's face heated quickly - both from anger and embarrassment. Mortified that Draco would see her and know she had found out about the other girl, she quickly ducked her head and brushed past Fred, not meaning to knock shoulders with him as she ran off with her short sobs. She would have been glad to know that she missed the _almost _sympathetic look on his face as he turned, watching her run off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Before any of you get angry with me for updating this one again, I should let you know that I already had it half-typed last night, so I'm just finishing the job! Expect a Scabior update soon! I'll be writing more frequently now that I'm back in school because (to be brutally honest) I write this stuff and make it look like I'm taking notes. I'm working it into my schedule so that I'll be updating The Spider and the Fly, Hunt or Be Hunted, Reflections, and this once a week.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.**

_To Have Loved and Lost: Chapter Two_

"Miss Parkinson?"

Pansy stiffened slightly, her eyes barely raising from the floor. She knew it was coming - Umbridge hadn't seen her yet seeing as she had sent an owl to all Inquisitorial Squad members excusing them from her class for duty.

"May I ask why you're purple?"

This question was met with several snickers around the room - loudest of all was Draco's. She felt her mouth go dry as her cheeks visibly heated, knowing the woman's amused expression was pointed her way.

"Gryffindors," Pansy mumbled, unable to look up and face the room. That goop - and Merlin knows what it actually was - had dyed everything it touched the most vibrant shade of violet imaginable. She'd never wanted to murder anyone more than she wanted to murder Fred Weasley. All day long she'd dealt with the jeers and snide remarks about her purple-spotted hair, her half-purple face, or her striped purple hands. The was all on top of actually explaining to her professors that this was not, in fact, her rebelling against the regulation code, but her falling victim to a rather cruel joke. Even then, half of the professors sent her back to her desk with a small smile as if she'd deserved it, assuring her the dye would probably wear off in a few days. The worst of all was Professor Snape who merely stared at her for two minutes with a neutral expression before turning and starting class as if nothing was out of place.

Umbridge seemed to find that a filling enough explanation because it wasn't a few seconds later when Pansy heard the woman's tea cup clang ungracefully against a saucer as she sat it down, continuing onto the next subject.

"Speaking of Gryffindors," Umbridge began, Pansy finally lifting her face now that she was sure everyone's attention was elsewhere, "It has come to my attention that a group meeting was held during last weekend's Hogsmeade trip - led by one Mr. Potter."

An uncomfortable silence settled across the room as Pansy watched the woman's lips purse together in a rather unattractive fashion. She lifted a sheet of parchment from in front of her, scanning the page.

"Although we are unable to know a full list of those in attendance," she started again in her sugar-sweet voice, "I would like each of you to note that we have confirmed a few of the students. Hermione Granger, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe, and Lee Jordan have all been confirmed."

She paused, looking around the full room and letting her eyes rest on each person for a second before moving to the next.

"Alright, so, what we're going to do is split up into groups of three - we have nine, so that'll work nicely - and I'll give you each three or four names. It's your job to keep an eye on these people - work as a team. I want any suspicious activity or slipped information reported immediately to me or Mr. Filch. Since we're lucky enough to have two Prefects and our Head Boy within our numbers, each of them will head a group. If something happens that needs immediate action, each group will have someone with the authority to do something."

Pansy watched as the woman lifted the parchment, reading it more carefully. She wasn't sure how she felt about having to lead a team, but she knew it was pointless to object.

"I've already taken the time to divide you into groups and assign students for you to watch. Astoria and Daphne Greengrass, you're both with Montague." Umbridge paused, noting that both girls looked more than pleased with this while Graham looked more along the lines of annoyed. She waited for the girls to cross the room and join Graham before continuing. "You three are in charge of Longbottom, Lovegood, Granger, and Ginny Weasley." Montague nodded silently, allowing Umbridge to go on. "Bulstrode and Goyle, you'll be with Malfoy - you three keep an eye on Edgecombe, Chang, Ron Weasley, and - most important - Harry Potter."

Pansy saw Draco's back straighten proudly from the corner of her eye.

"Which means that Crabbe and Zabini are both with Parkinson, leaving Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins to watch," she finished. Pansy grimaced - she'd been trying to work out who was left for her group to watch, but Umbridge had beat her to it.

This was going to be a nightmare.

"I thought it might be easier," she started again, "if each person took one name. It might be a little obvious to be flocking around in groups of three. Malfoy and Montague's groups could each take a name and alternate on the fourth person. Parkinson, your team wouldn't have to worry about that since you've got even numbers."

At the exact same time, Pansy and her team members all looked at each other, whispering in unison, "I call Jordan!"

There was a moment of silence as they sized each other up, then grimaced and turned away, all looking different directions. Umbridge continued talking for awhile, but Pansy had tuned her out, desperately trying to think of a way to get Jordan's name.

"That's all, then," she said with a smile that seemed far too sweet for her, "You're all excused to your common room to make arrangements."

The lot of them stood and shuffled from her nauseating office, quietly making their way downstairs to the dungeons. Pansy decided she would settle this tonight - she was not going to get stuck with one of those twins. It seemed like an eternity before they finally reached the commons, Pansy hurrying over to the the comfiest chair which sat in the dark corner of the room. There was only one other chair in the corner, directly across from her's with its back to the rest of the room. Blaise quickly slid into it, leaving Crabbe to stand next to them, blocking everyone else from view with his enormous stance.

"What's our game plan?" Blaise asked in a bored tone. Pansy looked the two of them over for a moment before voicing her opinion.

"I think since I'm the girl, I should be allowed to take the lesser of evils," she said simply, raising her eyebrows as if daring them to protest. "I'm a Prefect, so I deal with their cruelty everyday."

Blaise had the nerve to snort.

"Honestly, Pans, that's the lamest excuse I've heard all year," he said, looking up to Crabbe who merely nodded in agreement.

"If you honestly expect me to follow one of those loons around, knowingly setting myself up to - to -"

"To turn purple?" Crabbe offered dumbly, causing Blaise to burst out into laughter and the entire room to turn and stare. She crossed her arms across her chest with a huff, glaring daggers at Crabbe who looked confused as to why he was getting such a look.

"Exactly," she said in a hushed tone, moving her glare to Blaise who instantly quieted.

Blaise cleared his throat, unable to keep the grin off his face. "How about we draw names," he offered. "Otherwise, we'll be here all night arguing about who gets who. It's the only fair way and you know it."

She huffed again, her bottom lip protruding out into a small pout.

"Fine, but I get to pick first," she said, thinking that this way she had the best chances.

Blaise rolled his eyes with a dramatic sigh, pulling over a half-written essay that someone had so carelessly left laying there and ripped three chucks from it.

"I suppose I'll be the adult here and take the last pick," he said, noting the relieved look on Crabbe's face. He quickly jotted down the three names and crumbled the pieces of parchment up, putting them into his cupped hands and shaking them for a moment before offering them to her.

"You first, princess," he said sarcastically and she sourly plucked a piece from his hands. It took all of two seconds to find and retrieve the smallest piece of paper - her logic being that Lee's name was the shortest, therefore shouldn't need as big a piece of paper as the others. Crabbe leaned over to grab a piece and Blaise took the last one in his fingers before saying, "On the count of three."

Pansy listened as he counted down, quickly unwrapping the small piece of parchment to see a name which made her stomach drop.

_George Weasley._

She groaned loudly, figuring from the grin on Crabbe's face that he had gotten Jordan's name. Pansy looked to Blaise, who appeared neither happy or upset.

"That settles it, then," he said dismissively. "At least it won't be hard to find them, Pans," he added, "I think they're the only two who actively participate in the Hunt every night."

Pansy moodily waved them both off without another word, leaning back into the chair with her arms still crossed as they both joined Draco on the couches.

She wasn't even alone with her bad mood for a full minute before she was joined by her next visitor.

"The queen looks a bit sour on her throne," Montague joked, poking fun of the fact that Pansy frequented that particular chair in the corner.

"I got stuck with George," she said with a pout, causing him to chuckle.

"I've come to see if you'll make a deal with me," he said, leaning out toward her after casting a glance backwards over the common room. "I can't handle those girls," he said in a whisper. "I'll trade them for Crabbe and Zabini."

Now it was Pansy's turn to laugh loudly, meriting a somewhat annoyed look from Draco's direction once he saw who her company was.

"You're joking, right?" she asked with an amused voice, quirking an eyebrow. "I've got the Weasley twins! I'm going to need a little meat on my side if I don't want to land myself in Saint Mungo's!"

He gave her a desperate look, his eyes boring into hers.

"Please, Pansy. They're already driving me mad."

"Tell you what," she said, "I'll take Daphne and Astoria off your hands - in exchange for Fred and George."

He looked at her for a moment before bursting out into loud laughter, another groan escaping Pansy.

"I'm not _that _desperate," he said playfully, Pansy throwing him a look in reply. Nothing else had the chance to pass between them, however, as they were quickly interrupted by Draco - a light pink shade covering his cheeks and ears.

"Come on, Pansy," he said rather rudely, glaring at the older boy, "It's time for our rounds."


	3. Chapter 3

Pansy had been crouched quietly in the most uncomfortable position she'd ever experienced in her life for far longer than she could even tell. A slight shaking had actually started in her knees and she'd had to steady herself on the bookshelf to keep from toppling over. Next to her was Blaise - just as quiet and just as uncomfortable.

"This is idiotic," Blaise finally whispered, so quiet that she barely heard him. Pansy pulled her eyes from the crack between the books to shoot him a look.

"It's our job," she whispered back just as quietly, eyes moving once again to rest on the Weasley twins, who were sitting on the other side of the shelf. An irritated sigh met her ears, but she knew Blaise had turned back to look at them, as well.

Pansy agreed, however, that it was idiotic. She had also figured out that the twins knew they were being followed, somehow or another. Of course, the twins were clever enough not to say one word about the meeting in Hogsmeade, but Pansy and Blaise had yet to figure that out. Instead, they'd done their best for the past week to keep an eye on them from a distance. How she knew they were on to them was easy - the Weasley twins were never caught dead studying in the library. And that's exactly what they appeared to be doing. Their logic - which Pansy had only just figured out - was who would hide for hours just to watch them study? She'd racked her mind several times, trying to think of when her and Blaise made themselves obvious, but she kept drawing a blank. Several times, one of the twins - they had yet to figure out which was which - had looked over throughout the long silence, his eyes scanning over Pansy's own before flitting back down to his parchment. An odd, frozen feeling came across her when his eyes found her once again before looking away. At this, she pulled her sight away from the small crack, once again finding Blaise with her eyes.

"Psst," she said as lightly as possible, Blaise turning and giving her a wide-eyed look, as if to ask, "What?"

"Do they," she breathed almost silently, pointing toward the crack, "know that we," she continued, motioning between herself and Blaise, "are here?" she finished, pointing toward the floor. After a long moment of figured out what she'd said, Blaise shrugged and turned to look through his crack, but his shoulders stiffened and he looked right back to Pansy, nodding his head toward the twins in his silent way of telling her to look. Not missing a beat, Pansy quickly ducked her head back down, looking around in disbelief. They were gone - vanished! They had to know they were watching! She looked back toward Blaise, eyes wide, and let out a small, strangled, "Go!" Blaise took off in a near sprint as Pansy stood, but she took a misstep and nearly fell, catching herself against the bookshelf. That small second was all they needed - the twins leapt down from the top of the shelves at the opening of the aisle. She didn't have to turn around to know they were in one of the end aisles, meaning that the other end of the aisle was met with a cold, stone wall.

"Go get him," one of them said to the other, pointing over his shoulder toward the direction Blaise had gotten off to. The other nodded in reply and took off at a quick pace as Pansy's breath hitched in her throat. Whichever one had stayed behind kept his eyes firmly on her as he took a step forward - a very normal step, but Pansy would have argued that it was actually quite menacing.

"So," he said slowly, his hands reaching into his pockets - which made Pansy's back stiffen, wondering if he was pulling out his wand - as he took a few more steps toward her. "Would it be too blunt to ask why you and your little friend are following us around?"

Some stupid sounding noise managed to choke from her, mouth agape like a fish as she furiously thought of an answer. What should she say? She hadn't expected an actual conversation - more like a jinx.

"I -uh -," she started, wanting to hit herself for taking a step backward, "We've done nothing of the sort," she finally spat, throwing him a mean look. He rolled his eyes, arms crossed over his chest.

"Says the person who crouched for well over an hour to spy on us," he said, eyes carefully watching her, unsure if she would try anything funny.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Weasley. I only just got here," she managed, taking another step back toward the dead-end.

"Pansy!" a voice yelled from somewhere in the library, having heard her speak. At the sound of it, her stomach dropped even further, if that were possible.

Draco.

The twin, whichever he was - raised his eyebrows at the sound of his voice, but said nothing.

"Yes?" she said in a louder tone, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. Oh, this wouldn't be good. Draco had been furious about her laughing along with Montague the other day - what was he going to say about this? All alone in the back of a library aisle with an older Gryffindor boy? Well, she was about to find out - he'd just rounded the corner, mid-sentence, and stopped both his steps and his words as he looked down on the two of them.

"Come here," he said evenly after a moment, making her feel sick. She chanced a look up at Weasley, but looked directly back down at her feet when she saw that his eyes hadn't moved off of her. It took her a moment, but she finally forced herself to take a step, half-expecting Weasley to step in front of her and block the path. He didn't, though, thankfully, and she made her way toward an extremely irked-looking Draco.

"Did you honestly expect me to do my rounds alone?" he spat at her, taking her a bit roughly by the wrist and pulling her toward the library exit.

"Why wouldn't she? You make her do them alone most of the time," the twin's voice called out, making Draco stop and Pansy look down Weasley's way with a rare expression of begging, her head shaking from side-to-side slightly.

"And what business of that is yours?" Draco asked in a harsh tone, his grip tightening on her wrist.

"Draco, you're hurting me," she said quietly, his grip instantly releasing from her.

"Your mum was sure to teach you how to treat the ladies, wasn't she, Malfoy?" Weasley said dryly, avoiding the first question after realizing he wouldn't admit that it honestly was no business of his.

"By the looks of your mother, I'm surprised you know what a lady is," Draco spat back, his eyes narrowing slightly. "My question is - who are you to stand up for her when you go around terrorizing her every night?"

The air was hanging thick - Pansy and Fred, though she had no idea that was which one he was, both realized this was delving into nasty territory.

"Because I don't like to see girls getting bullied by their sleazy, cheating boyfriends," Fred answered back smartly, arms crossing over his chest. At this, both Draco and Pansy's faces flushed a rather vivid pink, though his was from anger and her's, embarrassment.

"Coming from the mouth of her biggest bully of all," Draco said through clenched teeth, staring daggers a the boy for calling him out on snogging that little no-name fourth year in the dungeons. "She's come back to the common room bleeding, bruised, and crying because of you lot and you honestly think you can sit here and call me the bully?"

At this, Weasley quieted, but Pansy left Draco's side and started walking toward the exit quickly as she felt unable to handle a conversation about her where it was though she wasn't there. It only took a few moments for Draco to catch up with her right outside in the corridor.

"Pansy, come here," he said quietly, looking at her with apologetic eyes. He threw an arm over her shoulder and stopped his pace, pulling her closer to him and stilling her, as well.

"I didn't mean to grab you that hard. I'm sorry, okay?" he said after he'd leaned down toward her, his lips grazing the top of her ear with each word. Pansy knew Draco got angry easily and sometimes he did grab her a bit roughly, but he'd never laid a hand on her other than that.

"Are you going to tell me what you were doing in the library with him?" he asked next, though Pansy detected a small tone of danger underlying his words.

"Blaise and I were just doing what we're supposed to," she said quickly, not wanting to be in trouble again, "but, they must've noticed. One second they were there and the next they weren't. Before I knew it, Blaise had taken off with the other twin following him and I was trapped in the aisle."

Draco thought about this for a long while, neither of them aware of the fact that the twins were listening from not far away.

"You don't believe all that cheating nonsense, do you, Pansy?" he asked carefully, purposefully dragging his lips along her ear this time with a tiny grin. Her small voice telling him he was hurting her had done nothing but turned him on.

"Of course, not, Draco," she lied, batting him away from her ear. "Stop it," she added in an annoyed tone.

"Come on, Pans," he said suggestively, leaning back in to nibble at her earlobe, "We could just skip patrol."

Pansy sighed, knowing it was probably best to just go along with it since his moods were so unpredictable, even though she dreaded it, knowing she would get banged up every time.

"Sure," she said, giving him a small smile, though the tiny trace of defeat was heard only to her ears and Fred's, who then felt his bitter sympathy toward Pansy grow even more, speckled with a fresh wave of hatred for Draco.


	4. Chapter 4

Pansy shifted, wincing slightly at the soreness of her muscles - namely, her upper arms and inner thighs. There was one of them coming her way, up the staircase as she was going down. Keeping her eyes glued to the floor, there was a sickly moment of dread when she felt the stairway lurch, moving slowly across the air. A quick look up only confirmed her fears - she was stuck on the moving staircase with one of the Weasley twins and not a soul around to help. George smirked as she looked back down to her feet, wondering where Fred got off to so they could finally get why she had been following them around out of her.

"Where are you headed to, Parkinson?" he asked innocently enough, if only to watch her squirm, knowing they were going to come after her. A small squeak strangled its way from her throat and her face burned a bright red, muttering, "Astronomy Tower."

She really was an idiot, wasn't she?

"And to think, I actually thought you'd be a decent liar," he said wickedly, pointing up the stairs and past her shoulder. "I was under the impression that the Astronomy Tower was the way you were coming from."

Face burning an even brighter red, she was saved by a final lurch as the staircase met the new landing and she took off quickly down the rest of the stairs, relieved when she realized he wasn't following her. To the library, then, as originally planned. At least it should have other students about at this time, so she would be around other people should the twins come back after her.

Just as she was about to round the corner into the library, a sly arm slinked around her waist, pulling her back, and it nearly scared the wits out of her. Turning slowly, not really wanting to know who rested at the end of that arm, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw it was only Draco.

"It's only you," she said with a smile, which quickly faded when she saw an unhappy look cross his face.

"Who else were you expecting to go about wrapping their arms around you?" he said accusingly, to which she quickly shook her head, eyes wide.

"No, no, you only scared me is all," she sputtered, but couldn't shake the mortifying idea she'd first had that it was one of the twins, about to pull something rather nasty. After a moment of silence, he smiled at her, seemingly content with her answer.

"I was coming to look for you, actually," he admitted, thumb running over her cheek as he looked down to her in fake adoration, "You haven't spoken to me all day, Pans."

Her eyes instantly looked away from him, down to his tie which was slightly crooked and she took to straightening it as an excuse for looking away.

"Sorry, I've just been sort of scrambled today," she answered truthfully, biting her bottom lip as she looked back up to him, hoping to make up for looking away in the first place.

"It's not what the weasel said yesterday, was it?" he asked carefully, eyes trained on her face intently, as if a single blink of the eye or quiver of the lip would give her away. "You know he was just putting ideas in your head, don't you? How could you expect me to ever cheat, especially after last night?"

Before she could even stop it, a horrid shudder ran down her spine as she remembered in horrific detail what, exactly, last night entailed. There was a rather nasty bruise which had formed around her neck, causing her to have to button her shirt up all the way, wear her tie in a certain fashion, and keep her hair down to avoid prying eyes from seeing. Draco, it seemed, had taken a rather recent liking to choking his partners while in bed.

As if reading her mind, his hands reached up to her tie and loosened it, wanting to see the damage himself.

"Of course, that isn't it," she lied, "Mother's just written me, wanting to know what I want for my birthday and I've not been able to think of a single thing all day."

Pathetic. What's even more so is that Draco merely nodded, finally unveiling the purple blotch as he walked her back into a wall, his eyes trained to the spot.

"It didn't hurt too badly, did it?" he asked in a lower voice, eyes still trained on the spot. Before she could answer, he lowered his lips there, gently laying a kiss on the sore area. In the three seconds he did so, two figures walked by from behind him, passing from left to right and eyes trained on Pansy, causing her breath to catch. Their faces had been neutral, as if they were just passing, but she could see the laughter in their eyes. By the time Draco had lifted his head, they were gone around the corner and her face was left slightly horrified, which she quickly fixed into a grin for Draco's sake.

"Not at all," she told him, not because it was the truth, but because she knew that's what he wanted to hear. Luckily, he grinned at her and she knew her expression of horror had gone undetected.

"Come on," he said, tugging her hand and looking down on her with that gleam in his eye which she had grown to not only despise, but fear.

"No, not right now," she said quietly, pulling her hand back from him quickly, as if she'd been burned. "I've got an essay to work on."

Which was partially true, but topped by the fact that she was still recuperating from their lengthy and rather rough engagement from the previous evening.

Draco began to protest, but she gave him that look - the look she used very sparingly when she meant something and wouldn't budge.

"Whatever," he muttered, pushing away from her and stalking off moodily, like some child who didn't get a toy that wanted at the store. Honestly, Pansy was beyond caring after what he'd put her through the night before. She let out a sigh of relief and walked swiftly into the library, not wanting to be alone should the twins decide to come back around the corner.

Thankfully, the library was quiet and Draco had told her the night before that he would do patrol alone that night, probably as a way of repairing what Fred had said the day prior in the very same library. She wondered if it was awful of her to be thankful that he'd told her that before getting sour and stalking off.

Actually, Pansy was sitting at the exact table the twins had occupied the day before, half-heartedly hoping she would find some forgotten paper detailing any small fact about the meeting held in Hogsmeade. Naturally, there was nothing, but she gave herself a small pat on the back for thinking about it and settled down with an essay which was due two days prior.

Pansy wasn't the brightest crayon in the box - and the worst part was that she knew it. Most people with…limited intelligence, shall we say, held themselves in some false mindset that they were, in fact, extremely intelligent. The people who knew they weren't - realized there were jokes going over their head - were possibly the most pitiful. She'd always struggled in school - terrible marks across the board, with the exception of Potions (which was thankfully due to the fact that she was Slytherin and nothing more) and Herbology (which she pretended to be terrible at for fear of being made fun of like Longbottom). In fact, she quite liked Herbology and kept a tiny Devil's Snare plant under her bed, which she lovingly took care of each night, long after her roommates had gone to sleep.

So, when it is said that Pansy was working on an essay, it would be more accurate to state that she was reading words that she didn't really understand and copying lengthy sections from her book word-by-word in hopes that the professor wouldn't notice, which they always did.

"Oi, Parkinson!" called a voice from behind her, causing the librarian to give a large shushing noise and the ink from her quill to blob onto the parchment. A boy plopped down opposite her at the small table before she even got the chance to look behind her, her mind too preoccupied with wondering where in Merlin's name the librarian was at yesterday when she needed her.

"We've got unfinished business."

Pansy looked up to see one of those wretched twins sitting across from her and then, quite suddenly, she visibly stiffened when she felt the back of her chair creak, someone having leaned their weight against it - the other one.

"Two on one is hardly fair," she said quietly, busying her hands by crumbling up the blotched piece of parchment and pulling out a clean sheet. How idiotic of her - she should have just gone back to the Slytherin commons after being seen so close to the library.

"Slytherins are hardly fair," said the other from behind her, which took her back to the memory of her, Blaise, and Crabbe drawing for names, the rare act of fairness which got her into this bloody mess in the first place.

"Perhaps you've been placed in the wrong house," she said back quietly, finally looking up to the one across from her and giving him an honest look. "I've always felt if it wasn't for family loyalty, the two of you would have been slapped in Slytherin so fast it would make your head spin."

Now, as previously said, Pansy wasn't the smartest person around by a long-shot, but she was a Slytherin, after all, and skilled in the art of self-preservation. Which, thankfully, was often seen in the act of changing the subject away from areas which could condemn her. Another small, but helpful thing she'd picked up was that people always loved to talk about themselves.

"Never," the two of them said in unison, a smile creeping onto the one in front of her. It was odd how she knew the one behind her was smiling, as well, without even having to look.

"Oh, really?" she asked, feigning interest, "You really expect me to believe the Sorting Hat didn't even mention Slytherin for you lot? Not even for the smallest little second."

The twin across from her shook his head proudly, crossing his arms.

"Not once," he said, his eyes carefully trained on the spot where Draco's lip had last laid. Catching this, Pansy stiffened and hurriedly buttoned the top button and tightened her tie, silently cursing Draco for causing her such an embarrassment, the childish prat.

"Well, I think you would have done well in Slytherin," she lied, glad she wasn't subject to their whims at all times. Of course, had they been Slytherin, they probably wouldn't have played pranks on their fellow housemates, but that was neither here nor there.

Both of them scoffed in unison, then the one across from her leaned farther onto his elbows, slightly closer to her.

"Quit trying to evade the subject," he said seriously, all traces of joking around gone. Pansy, sick of this entire thing, straightened up considerably.

"I'm not having this conversation. I've already told you that I haven't been following you about. As if I would have any interest whatsoever in two annoying, scrawny little ginger gits."

That, it seems, was not what they wanted to hear. One second she was sitting there, looking at the twin across from her boldly, and the next second she'd been forced to stand thanks to the one behind her. Before she knew which way was up and which was down, she had one arm around her shoulders, one around her waist and they were out into the corridor, her bag resting over one's shoulder and her parchment in the other's hand.

"Walk with us," one said, quickly followed by the other with, "Talk with us."

All Pansy knew was that walking down the corridors, a Weasley twin on either side of her - arms around her - would absolutely ruin her reputation.

"I have no desire to talk to either of you," she said rather coldly, trying to step out from them, but they only took a longer step to keep her snugly in the middle.

"All we want to know is why you've been following us about," said the one on her right, both of them looking down on her accusingly, yet there it was again - that smile in their eyes.

"You really think I'm about to have a voluntary conversation with you lot," she noted dryly. "After what happened to poor Blaise."

Blaise, well, he came across a bit of misfortune the night before. Everyone acted as if nothing had happened, of course, to save face, but he'd rushed into the Slytherin commons well after lights-out with half of his hair and eyebrows burnt off and a terrified expression.

"We wouldn't know, would we, Freddie boy?" asked the one on her right, the one with his arm around her shoulders.

"Nope, Georgie," answered Fred, "We wouldn't know a thing. Why don't you tell us what happened to Zabini, then, Parkinson?"

"You two are such bullies," she said in a quiet, but furious tone, not about to actually tell them what they already knew.

"Oh, I think we're breakin' her," teased George, giving his brother a triumphant grin.

"Sod off," shot back Pansy. "I've already told you I haven't been following you about."

"Methinks that's a lie," countered Fred cheekily, "C'mon, Parkinson, you wouldn't want us to steal the birthday presents your Mum sends you, would you?"

Pansy stopped, her face screwing up incredulously.

"What in the bloody hell are you going on about?" she asked, shaking her head in a confused manner, "My birthday was three months ago. Those presents have been long unwrapped."

Then, her stomach twisted as she realized her mistake. They'd overheard. They'd overheard her lying to Draco that her Mother was asking what she wanted for her birthday.

They had stopped with her and both looked down on her with pity.

"That's sad," Fred finally said, the two of them pushing her forward again, though a lot more gently this time. "Your own boyfriend doesn't even know your birthday."

That was, in all honesty, just about all she could handle.

"I don't see how that's any of your business!" she snapped, her cheeks a furious pink. "What do you care, anyway? Don't you look at me that way!" she spat again, hating the serious looks they gave her simultaneously. Pansy had never before in her life felt more cornered and embarrassed. "You're supposed to laugh!" she threw at them, ripping herself away from them and turning on them heatedly. "So, go on, then! Laugh it up!"

At that point, her entire face was red from both embarrassment and fury. Still, they only looked at her in a somewhat embarrassed fashion, for once in their lives not having anything to say. It was unbearable to her that even such idiots as the Weasley twins, who she hated and who hated her, could feel bad for her and the pitiful relationship that she clung to.

"Just fuck off," she said quietly, throwing them each another nasty look and turning on her heel, leaving her bag and parchment still in their possession while they watched her stomp off in astonishment.

Fred was determined. He was a Gryffindor, after all - the chivalry came with the name. He couldn't stand by and let a helpless girl get pushed around in a relationship with the world's largest egotistical git, no matter how nasty she could be.

The image of the bruise, peaking out from her shirt collar where it laid from the edge of her collarbone to the side of her neck - well, it had made him furious, honestly. Fred couldn't help wondering where else there might be hidden little patches across her body - a thought which turned rather inappropriate in a moment's time and caused a small shudder to run down his spine.

What the fuck was wrong with him? Ever since the night in the dungeons he'd felt…absolutely terrible. The way he was ecstatic for getting a few more points, which turned sour the moment her pretty little face had screwed up and she openly sobbed in front of him. That had bothered him, it really had, because everyone knows that a Slytherin's worst fear is showing weakness. He'd laid in bed that entire night, unable to sleep and - for the first time in his life - feeling genuinely terrible about what he had done. It was only amplified the next day when he saw he walking through the corridors, her head ducked while students of every house, her own included, poked fun at the violet blotches that covered her. Then, if it were possible, he very nearly apologized when he caught sight of her later that day, sitting on a bench and copying that dreadful Bulstrode's notes with badly scraped palms, still red and swollen.

That's when he really started paying attention to her - the way she would look at Malfoy dejectedly during meals or cross her arms around her nervously when she did patrols on her own. He had to admit, he didn't care what her and Zabini were following them around for - he quite liked it. When he realized that Malfoy didn't like it, it only made him enjoy it all the more. By that time, he was noticing other things that should have worried him - how her dark hair fell around her face or how she bit her lip slightly when she was thinking about something. When she smiled to Malfoy or one of her friends, it never seemed to reach her eyes, which only made him determined to make it happen. The worst thing he'd noticed, though, that made him realize maybe there was something going on with him that was extremely uncharacteristic, was the fact that she took off her stockings after classes for whatever reason and during prefect duty, when he'd spy her during the hunt and let her pass untouched, the way her skirt flirted with her bare thighs made goosebumps crawl over his arms and shoulders.

Fred turned to his brother, hoisting her bag up onto his shoulder even further, with a wicked grin on his face. He knew his twin was thinking the exact same thing, but for completely different reasons. This…could work out into his favor.

"You know what we've got to do, then," he said, the devious smile spreading to his twin, who nodded, answering back, "Break them up."


	5. Chapter 5

Pansy's arms were wrapped tightly around her knees, the bark digging into the exposed skin under her skirt. A few days had passed since the incident in the corridor with the twins and she'd pretty much given up on finding anything out about the meeting in Hogsmeade. Blaise, of course, said nothing on the matter and - to save face - they continued on with their separate lives as if nothing had changed.

The lake was lovely from the view of her tree. Well, it wasn't technically her tree, but she often referred to it as. Out by the lake, if you walked around the edge for about five minutes, you would come across a tree which had low limbs and overlooked the calm waters. Pansy, unfortunately, was one of the shortest girls her age, so she was happy the day she stumbled upon a tree which she could actually climb. That must have been her second year or so and had been a frequent thinking spot for her when things got to be too much. Which they were. Her and Draco were still fighting.

Actually, it had gotten worse. Some slimy little git of a Slytherin had spied her in the corridors with the twins arms around her and ran to tell Draco everything. That, needless to say, had not gone over very well at all. He had dragged her off to the nearest lavatory and screamed at her so fiercely that it was no wonder the entire school knew they were on the outs.

Fred had overheard at breakfast the very next morning, growing uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the day. Pansy's bag was tucked neatly in his trunk after he, of course, went through it a couple of times once the rest of his mates were long snoring. Nothing too interesting was to be found, but he did find it funny that her Herbology essays were horribly written, but the notes were more detailed than even that of a seventh year. All of her other notes, though, were plain terrible and he spent a few nights going over them before deciding he needed to return her bag.

This is why, a few days later on a particularly cloudy day, Fred followed Pansy, her bag over his shoulder. It would be an excuse to talk to her, too, though he knew better than to ask why she had been following them around right away. He watched as she skirted around the edge of the lake and disappeared for awhile, then he saw her in the distance climbing into a tree right near the lake.

Right, well…here goes.

With a determined step, he took off after her, following the same path she had and disappearing behind the trees.

Pansy sighed, burying her face in her knees. This was all so awful. She should have never accepted the offer onto the Inquisitorial Squad - no, even more so, she should have never accepted the offer to be prefect. If it wasn't for that, she would have never had to deal with the torment of the hunt and would have never found herself in this mess. It wasn't until she heard a twig snap and her head snapped up that she realized there were tears running down her face.

Fred watched as her head snapped up, anger instantly crossing her features as she put her legs down away from her chest. Which was probably a good thing, considering his eyes had been glued to her exposed thighs.

"What do you want?" she spat and, despite knowing it would be something nasty from her mouth, he couldn't help but feel the uncomfortable tug in his stomach comparable to rejection. Regardless, he plastered a smile on his face and took another step closer.

"Just bringing your bag back, is all," he said, hoisting her bag off of his shoulder and holding it up to show her. It was obvious in her eyes that she didn't trust him in the slightest as they darted nervously down to the ground, trying to gauge how large of a drop it would be should she need to jump and run.

"No need to fret," he said, giving her a serious look. "Like I said, just bringing the bag back."

Still, she was silent, and he looked up to her, realizing the rims of her eyes were a bit on the red side.

"Go on, then," she said, watching him carefully, afraid he would pull his wand on her in a second, "Drop the bag and go on."

Fred dropped the bag to the ground, but he crossed his arms, showing her that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Let's get this over with," she finally said, her cheeks flaring red with her fury. "Where's you brother at? Hiding I expect. Just do whatever you've come to do to me and get it over with so I can get up to the Hospital Wing before the dinner rush."

His mouth was hanging open, his ears growing quite red.

"I really just brought your bag back!" he argued, "Why is that so hard to believe?"

Pansy's eyes flashed for a moment, then she spun around to look over her shoulder, expecting the other to pop out and say boo.

"It's never that simple with you lot, Fred," she said, giving him a hard gaze.

Opening his mouth to say something, he suddenly stopped, giving her a funny look.

"What did you call me?" he asked, taking another step forward and raising an eyebrow.

"Fred," she said incredulously, "Don't tell me you're too good for all that. Fine, then, Weasley it is, I won't soon forget."

Still, he took another step closer, Pansy having to move her feet so they wouldn't touch his chest. The look on his face was the odd mixture of amused and suspicious.

"How, pray tell, do you know that I'm not George. I very well could be," he challenged. A storm of emotions ran over her face from confused to ashamed, then rested on bitter.

"You're the more annoying one," she finally said, snapping her mouth down once the words were out and looking out over the lake to avoid having to see him so close to her.

He actually had the nerve to snort, making Pansy feel even more nervous. The only reason she knew which one was which was that her and Blaise had noted that while George had a small mole on his neck, Fred had a scar above his eyebrow. Under normal circumstances, she shouldn't have known the difference at all.

"We're both the annoying one," he said with a grin. "Go on, then, you've got me. I'm Fred. Tell me your secret - how'd you know?"

Pansy, once again feeling cornered, merely shrugged, starting to get paranoid that people could see. What would they say? Even worse, what would Draco say? All she needed was some little nerdy twit running back and telling him they'd seen Pansy sitting in a tree with Fred fucking Weasley of all people practically standing between her legs and her entire reputation would be down the drain.

"I'm not letting you down from this tree until you tell me," he mockingly chided, his arms crossing over his chest as he looked up at her playfully.

"There's nothing to tell!" she argued, finally looking back down at him, "And you'll have to. I've got patrol tonight and they'll go out looking if I don't show up."

"So, just tell me," he said, a sly smile crossing his face.

"It was just a shot in the dark!"

"No, no, you wouldn't have said anything if you weren't sure. You didn't even have to think about it, you just said it."

Pansy crossed her arms, giving him a cold stare.

"This is terribly juvenile," she said, biting her bottom lip as she tried to think of a way to get down without being hit my Merlin knows what jinx. "If they come out here and find us like this, they'll -"

"They'll what? Send us back on our way with a slap on the wrist? We're not doing anything wrong. We're just talking."

"Exactly! This is social suicide on my behalf!"

Fred's face turned sour for a moment, but he rebounded with a teasing expression.

"You're just worried ickle Drakie is going to find out."

At that, Pansy's mouth hung open in horror, then broke into a wide smile, dramatically putting her hand up to her mouth.

"Sounds like you've got a crush."

"Oh, come off it and just tell me."

"Freddie and Drakie, sittin' in a tree -"

"Very funny, Parkinson!"

"F-U-C-K-I-N-G!"

"Oi!"

"First comes love -"

"You're disgusting."

"Then, comes marriage -"

"I'll tell him you were out here with me."

At that, Pansy sobered immediately, the smile wiped clean off her face, which Fred felt some regret about.

"You've got a scar above your eyebrow," she said quietly, busying herself by looking out over the lake again. From the corner of her eye, she saw him lift a hand up to the very spot she was talking about.

"You little sneak!" he said suddenly, the smile obvious in his voice. "I knew you were following us about! Years and years and our own mother can't tell us apart and you've mastered it!"

"I haven't been following you around! It's not that hard! An imbecile could tell the difference."

"Hardly any of our friends can tell us apart and they've spent years with us."

"It's not my fault your friends are unobservant swine."

"Go on, admit it - you've been following us around."

"Have not."

"Have to."

"Have not."

"Have to."

"Look, what do you want?" she finally asked, an irritated note in her voice, just wanting to get as far away from him as possible before someone saw again.

"Why were you following us about?"

"Well, there would be no point if I bloody told you, then, would there?"

"So, you admit you've been following us."

Pansy sighed, folding one arm across her chest and resting the elbow of her other in her hand, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"This is going absolutely nowhere," she said, shifting carefully so he couldn't see up her skirt, but trying to free the skin that was pressed against the bark of the tree.

"Look, I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me."

"You don't leave me alone now! I can't even properly do my prefect duties without you hanging about and making everything harder!"

Silence.

"Alright, then, you tell me why you've been following us and I won't let a single hex, jinx, anything so much as touch a hair on your head during the hunt."

Silence.

"That's a lie."

"By swear," he said, crossing his heart with an index finger. Oh, how tempting it was for her.

"You mean, no one at all? Not only you, but anyone else."

"No one. In fact, if you get hit, it'll be worth negative points. How does that sound?"

Pansy once again bit her lip, looking down to him and searching for any signal that he was lying or would renege on the deal, but she was met with only his honest eyes.

"If you tell anyone that I've told, I'll be in terrible trouble," she said, her brow tucking slightly. This was probably a terrible idea, but she was, after all, a Slytherin - and Slytherins were always about self-preservation.

"I won't say a word," he said with a triumphant grin, his stomach flopping when he watched intently as she bit her lip again. Her thoughts, however, were on Draco, who had taken to flirting with other girls even more openly since their fight, just to spite her - show her what she could lose.

"It…might throw the balance of the game off, though, might'n it? To suddenly take me out of the game? And deduce points, at that. So, I think it's only fair to your little gang of…players, shall we, that Draco…counts for double."

Fred's lips quivered slightly before breaking into a wide grin. Oh, the wickedness of a woman scorned could be so delightful at times.

"I think that makes perfect sense," he said back evenly, mocking seriousness. "But, now I'm at a difficult place, see. You've told me that you have, indeed, been following us and you've even raised the stakes for your own boyfriend. How do I know you won't back out this instant when it finally hits you what you've just said? So, just as insurance, of course, if you don't tell me why you've been sneaking about, Montague and Malfoy are both out of the game and you'll be worth triple on your own."

Triple.

He'd seen the look of regret the moment the words left her lips, quickly manipulating the situation to his favor.

A few good beats of silence passed between them.

"Slytherin," she said accusingly, her cheeks a bright red as she began to recount the meeting with the Inquisitorial Squad, briefly wondering in the back of her head how this situation had grown so out of control and how much more so it would become.

If she only had the slightest idea.


End file.
